Tesla is a pioneer in the high performance modern fully electric vehicle market, and just ten years into its existence is ready to significantly scale globally. Tesla has been building up its manufacturing capacity and rolled out gigafactories (plants where they manufacture their electric batteries and vehicles) in America, Europe, and significantly in the large and burgeoning Chinese market, and these plants are almost completely automated with robots on the vehicle assembly line. Humans are also still present on the line playing, but just to complete certain minor activities (quality checks) that the robots can not complete.
Tesla is set to disrupt two huge industries that were established since the first industrial revolution with the advent of the internal combustion engine (ICE), which is fueled by the very large oil and gas industry. The second key element is the source of energy used to power Tesla batteries which is solar energy.
Wide scale charging infrastructure has been developed all across the US, Europe, China and other territories where Tesla operates. The model s vehicle can get a half charge using a super charger in under 25 minutes, and 1 hour for a full charge. On a full charge a Model S Long Range can travel a distance of 379 miles (or approx 609 kilometers for those using the metric system), before needing to recharge.
Tesla is positioning itself to completely disrupt the Oil & Gas and electricity power generation industries. These are two huge industries whose basis for existence is the burning of fossil fuels. Tesla’s main purpose for existing is to lead the complete eradication of fossil fuel powered industries. This will consequently significantly reduce the globes greenhouse gas emissions and the ongoing depletion of the ozone layer.
The Tesla proudly displays its zero emissions status in the images above at one of its Boston Dealerships. The founder of the blog, Lindani Mabuza got to get a feel for this computer on wheels in Boston in 2017. The model displayed is the Model-S Long Range which is in the BMW 5 series and Mercedes E-class range, retailing from $79 000 up to $124 000 for the 2020 model.
The onboard computer receives regular software updates remotely as users would typically receive software updates for a smartphone. The vehicle also has a mobile application on which drivers can perform various functions such as use Media, Software updates, Climate control, Charging, Location and get this you can Summon your car as illustrated on the below iPhone screen shots within the Tesla app:
The Model-S has two compartments in the front and back for stowing luggage as there is no engine under the hood in front. The wheels are powered by two motors in the front and rear axles and the lithium ion battery is very heavy and lies flat on the under belly of the car in between the two axles, giving the vehicle a low center of gravity improving its safety and handling or cornering ability.
The interior of the Model-S is very high-tech with a large touch-screen to control the vehicles functions with most functions being computerized. This vehicle is amazing and at the time of writing it was still the fastest production vehicle which can do 0-60 mph (0 – 100km/h) in 2.4 seconds according to Tesla. This is quicker than the top end high performance Porsche, Mercedes or BMW ICE models as demonstrated in the drag race in the video below. Only the Lamborghini Aventador was quicker over the quarter mile (400m), in a different test by Carwow in the ICE super car range, however the Tesla is always quickest out of the starting blocks (first 100m). The new Porsche Taychan (the all-electric response from Porsche which retails from $125 000, is a worthy opponent in the speed and luxury stakes as well.
Tesla has various models in its line up targeting the various income levels and the launch of the Model 3 which retails from $35 000 upward and is set to take on the mid-range BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-class. This will change the vehicle market for ever as it will drive wider-scale adoption of the brand. Tesla may even produce a new hatch-back vehicle which will cost even less than the Model 3 from $25 000 to further entrench itself in the lower-end of the market.
The Tesla stock recently surpassed the $1000 a share mark for the first time and with a $225 billion market capitalization has past the worlds largest vehicle manufacturer Toyota as the largest manufacturer by market cap. As Tesla continues to build up its capacity, it appears as thought it will be very difficult for competitors to catch up in terms of battery technology and all the data they have built up from 10 years of operating these vehicles to continue to improve their already superior machines in all vehicle classes.
In Africa we eagerly anticipate the date when these vehicles will become available on the continent as at the time of writing there are no plans that have been publicized by Tesla for the launch of the vehicle in Elon Musk’s continent of birth.
Africa is home to approximately 30% of the world’s lithium mineral reserves, which is mined as raw material for the lithium ion batteries. Zimbabwe and Namibia and Democratic Republic of Congo are among the top 10 countries for global lithium production. There is a strong case for the development of a Gigafactory at the source, to get Africa out of this resource exporting trap and enable Africa to assume her place in the global battery race.
In the next post we will take a closer look at how Tesla is building out their solar strategy to power a homes energy requirements which will enable complete neighborhoods to get of the electricity power grid and be self-sustaining by storing solar energy on the Tesla Powerwall.